The Astroclip Is A iPhone 4 Clip For Astrophotography

Amateur stargazers and peeping toms, this one is for you. The AstroClip promises to mount an iPhone 4 to any telescope with a 1.25-inch eyepiece for easy astrophotography. An iPhone 4 simply snaps into the injection molded case and then three set screws secures the case to most telescope eyepieces. This opens up all sorts of fun photography projects: shooting the moon and stars, the lady in the next building and so much more!

The project launched on Kickstarter last week and seems to be having a bit of trouble getting off the ground. This is the designer’s, Matthew Geyster, third Kickstarter project. His first project, Rustic Case for iPad and Kindle 3, was eventually funded, but his second, a dual-tipped capacitive stylus, didn’t raise enough funds. This time around Geyster is asking for a reasonable $15,000, which will cover all the costs while keeping the manufacturing in the US.

The minimum pledge is $1, but $25 comes with an AstroClip and worldwide shipping. Pledge $40 and Geyster will ship you a special edition red AstroClip along with a AstroClip t-shirt. The pledge levels continue up to $500 with each netting the backer more AstroClips. A telescope isn’t included at any level.

Say what you will about phones replacing conventional cameras. It’s happening as more and more accessory makers begin catering to that market. AstroClip is just one of the latest.

Similar mounts have been available for years; the idea isn’t anything new. But other mounts are generally expensive, specific for a certain camera, and require a sturdier telescope tripod depending on the weight of the attached camera. The AtroClip solves all those issues by working with the very popular and light iPhone 4. The project just needs a bit of kickstarting.